Silence is far from golden for Hibs

DAVID HARDIE

AFTER a week of self-imposed silence, a protest at the perceived manner in which they had been treated by some newspapers, Tony Mowbray would have been hoping that his Hibs stars would have let their feet do the talking in the first Edinburgh derby of the season.

But rather than roaring back, the Easter Road fans found their efforts to rouse Mowbray's side reduced to little more than a whisper, the 3500 gathered in the Roseburn Stand at Tynecastle given few opportunities to raise their voices in support of those in green and white on the pitch.

Four goals without one in reply is comprehensive enough a beating in any match, but even more so in a derby which, in the eyes of Hearts supporters, will confirm that the Vladimir Romanov revolution in Gorgie is well and truly underway.

Six points and eight goals from the opening two matches of the new SPL season, aided and abetted by a seemingly endless influx of new signings do, at first glance, appear to underline that the balance of power in the Capital is once again shifting in favour of those from the west side.

There was little doubting the smug smiles of satisfaction adorning the visages of Romanov, chairman George Foulkes and chief executive Phil Anderton at the final blast of referee Stuart Dougal's whistle - prompted, of course, by the emphatic win they'd just seen their side inflict on their arch-rivals.

And rightly so, Hearts thoroughly deserved their first derby victory in four attempts but, as a deflated Mowbray pointed out afterwards, both his side and Hearts should be judged over the course of 38 games, not two.

Suspicions and doubts, at least from those outwith Tynecastle, about Romanov's long-term commitment and plans for Hearts remain but, for the moment at least, the Lithuanian businessman can do no wrong in the eyes of those adorned in maroon.

The coming weeks and months will tell us more than the opening eight days of the season but the early evidence is that with Romanov bankrolling Hearts, the Gorgie outfit will prove to be a formidable force should everything continue in current vein.

But while obviously disappointed, Mowbray insisted that his side shouldn't be - as Hearts supporters claimed as their side eased to victory - regarded as "one season wonders".

It was easy to understand why that allegation should be made, Hibs trailing Hearts by five points after just two games, but, as Mowbray pointed out, his side lost the first derby of last season, admittedly by a far narrower margin, picked up just four points from the opening four games and yet went on to enjoy a highly successful season. And, in the face of such adversity, Mowbray insisted it isn't beyond his side to do so again.

Asked how he could pick his players up after such an emphatic defeat, the Hibs boss, remaining philosophical in the light of his heaviest defeat in charge, said: "Of course it is a sore one.

"But we have to take it on the chin and get on with it. That's football, you get results like that sometimes.

"We feel for our supporters at the moment and our players are pretty down. But you judge us after 38 games, not two. I have every reason to believe that we will be entertaining and have a successful season.

"How hard is it to pick my players up? We managed to do it quite a lot last season. We had set-backs and we bounced back so we will see. The next test for us is Livingston at home on Saturday.

"It's part and parcel of football, you lose big games and you look to bounce back. So we look forward to the next one. We feel for our supporters, they were the ones hurting as they walked away from the ground.

"The players were very disappointed as well but in football you win some games and lose some but you do not like to lose the ones that the supporters have a real passion about.

"But we lost the first derby last season and it went okay."

While there was no arguing with the margin of victory, Mowbray could at least console himself with the fact that his side were the authors of their own defeat, at least as far as the first three goals were concerned. With only 13 minutes on the clock, Kevin Thomson tried to play a killer pass towards Amadou Konte - who looks more effective coming off the bench than starting - and Garry O'Connor, only to see it picked off by Andy Webster.

As a result too many Hibs players were caught wrong side of the ball as Paul Hartley, the most impressive player on the pitch as he was watched by Scotland boss Walter Smith, raced to the other end, slipping the ball to Roman Bednar.

His shot was half-blocked by Zibi Malkowski, below, but Rudi Skacel followed up to bundle the ball into the net ahead of the despairing Gary Smith.

Hearts had Hibs reeling, the visitors' cause not helped by Gary Caldwell limping off having punctured a lung and cracked some ribs.

However, as dominant as Hearts had been, they led by that single goal at the interval, always a dangerous situation to be in and particularly in a derby.

But just as Hibs began showing signs of retrieving the situation, Thomson lofting the ball over Craig Gordon but wide of the back post and Guillaume Beuzelin, again disappointing in midfield, nodding a free header wide, disaster struck - at least as far as those in green and white were concerned.

Stephen Glass was adjudged to have used an arm to guide the ball away from danger in the penalty area, allowing Hartely to step up to fire home his second spot-kick of the season before Buezelin made a total mess of a clearance, substitute Stephen Simmons stepping in to clip a right-foot shot beyond the exposed Malkowski.

Saulius Mikoliunas' fourth was merely incidental, the Lithuanian bad boy from last season who seemed to have immunity against punishment for a succession of fouls in this match, firing a low shot beyond Hibs' startled goalkeeper.

Mowbray agreed that the penalty decision, while not the turning point in the game, had been a crucial one. He said: "There were signs that we were starting to play our game a little bit at the start of the second-half. We did not play at all in the first.

"I haven't had a chance to have a second look but if it's handball it's a penalty and you get on with it. I wouldn't say it was a turning point because we never had a strangle-hold on the game, just a foothold.

"You have to give Hearts credit, they played at a high tempo, forced the issue and got the goals."

Taken from the Scotsman